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Where do you catch yourself overusing AI?
WTF is slippery slop?: It is what happens when AI becomes the easiest way to do every task.
You stop choosing. You let the model write the message, make the deck, reply to the customer, explain your idea, and clean up your thinking before you have done the thinking.
That is when AI starts getting between you and your craft
You have a messy thought.
Instead of writing it badly once, you ask AI to make it clean.
The output looks fine. Good grammar. Nice structure.
But something feels off.
It does not sound like you.
It does not carry your taste.
And the person reading it now has to spend extra energy finding the actual point.
That is the problem with using AI for everything.
Not because AI is bad.
Because AI makes low-effort output too easy to ship.
Max Brodeur-Urbas from Gumloop called this "slippery slop."
Gumloop uses agents heavily inside the company. They are seeing real efficiency gains. But they are also seeing a new problem: agents can slowly get between a person and the craft that made them good in the first place.
That line is important. The danger is not that AI writes.
The danger is that you stop noticing when the work needs you.
I am Alex, welcome to ShortCu8 by Innov8.
Lets Dive Deep 🐰
⭐Today's Shortcut
Before using AI, ask three questions:
1. Is this boring work or thinking work?
2. Will this save the reader time or waste the reader's time?
3. Does this need my taste, relationship, or judgment?If the answer is boring work, use AI.
If the answer is taste, relationship, or judgment, do the first pass yourself.
Then use AI to make it cleaner.
1. Do Not Use AI to Make Simple Things Big
Bad use:
Make a 20-slide deck explaining this update.
Better:
Turn this into a 6-line update.Include:- what changed- why it matters- what needs a decision- the next step
AI can create volume very easily.
That is not always useful.
Sometimes the best output is shorter.
A clear Slack message beats a beautiful deck when the decision is small.
A 5-line email beats a full proposal when the client only asked one question.
A simple note beats a polished document nobody asked for.
Good AI use should reduce the reader's effort.
Not increase it.
2. Do Not Use AI to Fake Care
This is where AI gets risky.
Customer replies. Apologies. Team messages. Personal feedback.
Anything where the other person is already confused, annoyed, or waiting for you.
Bad use:
Reply to this angry customer.
Better:
Here is what actually happened:- payment failed- access was blocked- I fixed it manually- they lost 2 hoursHelp me write a clear reply under 120 words.Start with the fix.Do not sound corporate.Do not hide the mistake.
See the difference?
In the first one, AI is doing the care.
In the second one, you are doing the care.
AI is only helping with wording.
That is the line.
If someone needs to feel that a real person understood the problem, do not send untouched AI text.
Write the truth first. Then clean it.
3. Do Not Let AI Talk to Your Team for You
Internal messages are easy to ruin with AI.
Because the text looks professional.
But the relationship gets colder.
Bad use:
Write a reply to my teammate about this issue.
Better:
Here is my rough reply:
I agree with the direction.
The only thing I am worried about is launch timing.
Can we ship the small version this week and keep the bigger version for later?
Make it tighter.
Do not make it sound like a manager memo.Your teammate does not want a perfect paragraph.
They want your actual thinking. AI can help you say it better.
But it should not replace the thinking itself.
4. Use AI Where It Has No Ego
AI is excellent for boring work.
Use it for:
turning messy notes into bullets
making a rough draft shorter
finding missing questions
comparing options
changing format
checking if a message is unclear
converting a long transcript into action items
making a table
removing repetition
These tasks do not require your soul.
They require patience.
Let the machine spend the patience.
You keep the taste.
5. Use This Rule
Here is the simple version:
AI can help with the labor.You still own the taste.
Before sending any AI-assisted work, check:
Is the point clear?
Is this shorter than the raw version?
Does it sound like something I would actually say?
Did I add the real context?
Am I making the reader work harder?
Would I be okay saying this face to face?
If it fails those questions, do not ship it.
Rewrite it.
Cut it.
Or write it yourself.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using AI before you know your point
If you do not know what you mean, AI will give you a clean version of confusion.
Think first.
Then ask.
Mistake 2: Asking for "better"
Better usually means generic unless you define it.
Say what better means:
Shorter.Clearer.Less formal.More direct.More useful for a busy founder.
Mistake 3: Sending untouched AI replies
This is the fastest way to make people feel like they are talking to a system.
At least add the real detail only you know.
Mistake 4: Making everything longer
AI loves structure.
Readers love clarity.
Those are not the same thing.
The Real Skill
The real skill is not refusing AI.
It is placement.
Knowing where AI belongs.
Use it to remove friction.
Use it to clean messy notes.
Use it to check your blind spots.
Use it to speed up work that does not need your personal judgment.
But when the work needs taste, care, responsibility, or a real relationship, stay close to it.
That is where your edge is.
AI can help you move faster.
But it cannot care on your behalf.
Now go create something great.
The ShortList
🛠️Cool Tools of the Week:
Tencent AI: Miora, an AI creative agent studio, is available in international beta
Ask YouTube: New conversational search experience in YouTube
ElevenLabs: Stan Lee’s voice is now available on Iconic Marketplace and ElevenReader
Perplexity: Computer is now in Microsoft apps
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